Department of Forest Sciences
Research Reports
Project Number: ALK-01-01 McIntire-Stennis
Long-Term Forest Ecosystem Monitoring and GIS Modeling of Taiga
Forest Dynamics
Yarie, J. A.
Situation and purpose:
A total understanding of the interaction between the environmental dynamics
that regulate forest growth at the landscape scale in interior Alaska
is just starting to develop. The purpose of this study is to develop a
computer model on the functional aspects of forest ecosystem dynamics
at a broad landscape scale in interior Alaska.
Impact:
The results of the 35-year study will yield a long-term perspective on
the climatic and nutrient controls of forest growth in interior Alaska.
The duration of this study and its distribution in various vegetation
types across the landscape will start to yield a potential understanding
of the effects of climate change on the forest ecosystems found in interior
Alaska.
Project Number: ALK-01-07 McIntire-Stennis
SOIL CARBON BALANCE AND NITROGEN DYNAMICS FOLLOWING DISTURBANCE BY WILDLFIRE
AND LOGGING IN INTERIOR ALASKAN FORESTS
Valentine, D. W.
Situation and purpose:
Because boreal forest soils constitute a huge reservoir of carbon, a clearer
understanding of the responses of boreal forest soil respiration to disturbance
will be critical to successfully assessing its likely future role in atmospheric
carbon balance. The expanding role of forestry in Alaska and in the circumpolar
north requires a clearer understanding of the responses of boreal forest
floor microbial dynamics to disturbance is a key to sustaining productivity
over the long term.
Impact:
As this project began during summer 2001, its real impacts lie primarily
in the future. They will accrue primarily to the public via management
agencies, such as Alaskas Department of Natural Resources (especially
Division of Forestry and Division of Lands). Discussions about carbon
sequestration as a sellable product for land managers have become more
commonplace and serious. To work in Alaska, any such scheme must be based
on a clear understanding of and accounting for the future role of Alaskas
boreal forest soils in sequestering or releasing carbon under changing
disturbance regimes. This project, in concert with other related projects
at UAF, will help provide that understanding.
Project Number: ALK-01-08 McIntire-Stennis
THE RESPONSE OF FOREST ECOLOGY AND GROWTH TO CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN ALASKA:
PATTERNS, CONTROLS, AND STRATEGIES FOR MANAGEMENT
Juday, G. P.
Situation and purpose:
Carbon dioxide is one of the more important greenhouse gasses in the earth's
atmosphere and CO2 enrichment through fossil fuel combustion has produced
a discernable human influence on global climate. The management of forests,
agricultural lands and rangelands can play an important role in enhancing
carbon sinks. Reliable measurements of net uptake of carbon dioxide into
its forests will assist Alaska in establishing the magnitude and thus
obtaining market value cash income.
Impact:
These results suggest that there is a continuing high risk caused by climate
warming in managing forest land in southcentral Alaska for spruce forest
crops. Under recent climate conditions, and especially under scenarios
of further climate warming, spruce bark beetle irruption potential will
remain high. As the small surviving understory spruce trees that are not
susceptible to bark beetle attack in the region mature to commercial forest
dimensions, they will move into the prime susceptibility size and age
classes to serve as hosts for spruce bark beetle. Under these circumstances,
the regional environment would remain effectively saturated with spruce
bark beetles because climate limitations on beetles have been removed.
Investments in regeneration and early tending of new commercial stands
of spruce, should that be desired, would carry considerable risk because
bark beetles would become effective agents of tree mortality at about
the time that stands of spruce became large enough to generate commercial
value.
Project Number: ALK-01-12 Special Grant
University of Alaska Southeast Forest Products Program (UASFPP) Phase
2
Brackley, A. M.
Situation and purpose:
Due to mill closings and the subsequent collapse of the wood products
industries, Alaska communities are in need of economic restructuring.
The purpose of this project is economic development in a holistic sense.
The development process requires information about the raw material, the
technology used in processing, and the markets for the resulting products.
This program is designed to generate required information and transfer
it to industry.
Impact:
As a result of this research Alaska sawmills should be able to increase
the value of sales by 10 percent. Such an increase would represent $2.3
million increase in sales.
Project Number: ALK-02-08 Special Grant
University of Alaska Southeast Forest Products Program (UASFPP) Phase
3
Brackley, A. M.
Situation and purpose:
Due to mill closings and the subsequent collapse of the wood products
industries, Alaska communities are in need of economic restructuring.
The purpose of this project is economic development in a holistic sense.
The development process requires information about the raw material, the
technology used in processing, and the markets for the resulting products.
This program is designed to generate required information and transfer
it to industry.
Impact:
Alaska sawmills that market products in accordance with these new rules
should be able to increase the value of sales by 10 percent. Such an increase
would represent $2.3 million increase in sales.
Project Number: ALK-03-12 McIntire-Stennis
Forest Stand Characterization and Growth and Yield for the Alaskan Northern
Forest
Liang, Jingjing..
Situation and purpose:
Credible data and information are critical requirements for responsible
forest management decision-making and financial investment. Much growth
and yield data, currently available, are suspect, inadequate, or insufficiently
precise. Goals are to quantify tree fiber production of Alaskan Northern
Forest lands and to provide resource managers with appropriate equations,
tables, and graphs essential for basic, state-of-the-art forest resource
management decision-making and stand prescriptions.
Impact:
Alaska Northern Forest Cooperative already is benefiting forest resource
owners and managers through dialogue, collaboration, and the draft research
compendium. SITE INDEX curves will be used to better manage forestland,
e.g., compare land for fiber production & investment purposes, prepare
stand prescriptions for habitat, estimate biomass & carbon sequestration.
LOGS plantations relate empirical height/diameter to trees/acre; thus,
help managers make cost effective prescriptions for planting, natural
regeneration, and spacing. EARLY HEIGHT GROWTH data is critical to improve
stand growth model accuracy and predict time for seedlings to reach breast
height & free-to-grow status. In addition to fiber yield, PSPs provide
data on stand composition, structure, and succession, important for forest
management and ecological modeling. Accurate cubic-foot TREE VOLUME EQUATIONS
are critical tools for predicting stand volume (total & commercial),
biomass, standing fuel, and carbon sequestration. Sale of small trees
and slash for PHYTOCHEMICALS can offset management activities and even
provide a profit and improve local economies. FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
COMMUNITY TYPES will standardize land classification and prescription
development and improvement forest resource management, reduce critical
mistakes, and improve economic decision-making. Soils information complements
the community type data set and identifies soils limiting factors and
treatment hazards. Both soils and community types expand the ecologic
knowledge of the Northern Forest.
Project Number: ALK-99-02 McIntire-Stennis
SATELLITE CHANGE DETECTION TECHNIQUES FOR MAPPING SPRUCE BARK BEETLE INFESTATION
IN ALASKA
Verbyla, D. L.
Situation and purpose:
The spruce bark beetle infestation can be mapped from satellite images.
This project will develop procedures for identifying the degree of damage
to forests.
Impact:
Accurate estimates of burn severity across large spatial and temporal
scales are important as inputs for estimating carbon emissions from wildfire
and for modeling and prediction of post-fire plant succession, permafrost
dynamics, and carbon flux. This research demonstrated the Normalized Burn
Ratio can be reliably applied in high latitude boreal forests of Alaska
to map burn severity classes. Results from this research will be used
in a workshop on geostatistical methods in GIS to be taught in Fairbanks
and Anchorage next winter. A manuscript based on this research will soon
be submitted to the Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing.
Project Number: ALK-99-06 McIntire-Stennis
Stream Temperature Response to Timber Harvest Activities in Interior Alaska
Fox, J. D.
Situation and purpose:
Concern exists that timber harvest activities will have detrimental effect
on fish habitat in cold water streams. The purpose of this study is to
identify the natural course of stream temperature and the potential effects
of ice bridges on fish habitat in Interior Alaska.
Impact:
The Alaska State Legislature passed a bill in 2003 adopting revised riparian
management standards for region III (interior Alaska). Work sponsored
by this project contributed to the formulation of these revised standards.
A similar effort has been started for region II (south-central Alaska)
for which this research will also be relevant.
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